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Thursday, December 13, 2012

Scalia: A round-up of the responses

Antonin Scalia

By now you've probably read Justice Antonin Scalia's appalling comments explaining how he justifies equating laws banning sodomy with those barring bestiality and murder. (And if you haven't you can catch up with them here.)Fortunately, there have been some important responses from, among others:

Of course the most important response will come when all nine justices rule on cases involving the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8. The night before the Supreme Court decided to take those cases, panelists at AFJ's Conversation with Jeffrey Toobin previewed the issues:

1 comment:

Again, and I've said it so often, I am outraged at the likes of Antonin Gregory Scalia, Associate Justice, SCOTUS. As a legal professional, myself, I ask: Why is this hateful, arrogant, pompous man sitting on the U.S. Supreme Court? Intellect is one thing and Scalia is full of intellect. But that's not all he's full of -- Scalia bashes his jurist peers, lawyers that appear before the SCOTUS bench, the audiences when and where he lectures, the American public, and minorities that Scalia deems deserves his wrath! His legal writings are filled w/ the same rantings. Overall, Scalia is a poor representation of what a U.S. Supreme Court justice -- or any court judge -- should be.

"A few months from now, when the Supreme Court hears arguments in the two same-sex marriage cases it accepted for review last Friday, many observers will likely be in [freshman Princeton University student Duncan] Hosie’s position—listening with some amazement to Scalia as he berates lawyers, fascinated by his animosity, wondering about the point where a cruel note removes any enjoyment one might find in intellectual theatrics. There haven’t exactly been signs that Scalia is mellowing. His dissent, this year, in an Arizona immigration-law case, was as politicized and angry as ever—and gay-rights cases do not exactly bring out his soft side. For the health-care case, we had broccoli arguments; for same-sex marriage, we will likely be coming back to bestiality." quoting newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2012/12/

In addition, Scalia hasn't recused himself in several past cases where he should have done so. Both he and Thomas are in the same ball park w/ this one. Rehnquist (now deceased) did that on occasion too. Of course, each justice makes that decision. And as we all know a sitting SCOTUS justice is a lifetime position and cannot be removed except by impeachment u/ the provisions of the U.S. constitution. Not that I'm suggesting that Scalia be impeached but am merely mentioning the non-recusal issue as well as his other behaviors that I've mentioned.